October 2025 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

Oh bother. I was just reminded to check my subscriptions and found a £2.29 large box of sea salt crystals I had omitted to add. So now nestling at 79.54% of my annual budget, with a milk bill added too (DD milk delivery). That might be it for October. I hope so!

Nelliegrace

Best wishes for your mother’s recovery, @dollypeeps. I hope the hospital parking fees don’t add to a very stressful time. 

mandco

@dollypeeps hope your mum is doing ok 

A few smaller shops over the weekend Totalling £125.67 over the weekend = £179.04/£258.  

Pennypincin

I spent half of my weekly food budget and have transferred the money into the bulk fund.
Restarting this week.

PipneyJane

dollypeeps said:

Sorry will have to bow out of this thread for the moment.
mum has broken her (other) hip so we are currently the hospital visits etc.
glad that I have quite a few of my own ‘ready meals ‘ in the freezer.
still tracking my spends by keeping receipts, noting in diary etc 
hopefully I can be a fully functional contributor in the coming months.
i will keep it Bookmarked for a read between appts etc.

Don't worry about us @dollypeeps.  You'll have enough to stress about in the coming weeks.  I hope your mum recovers well and isn't in a lot of pain.

((((((( Hug )))))))

- Pip

JingsMyBucket

Morning folks. I went grocery shopping on Saturday and I’m quite proud of myself for staying out of the shops for a whole week. I was cooking out of the cupboards and freezer every evening except for Thursday when I got tired and we ordered pizza. Otherwise, everything has been from scratch. On Saturday I went to Lidl and M & S. 

£25.96 at Lidl for scallions (69p), bok choy (1.29), jarred herbs, a family pack of mushrooms (1.69), 640g lamb leg chops (8.49), 500g ground pork (2.25), smoked salmon (2.09 w/Lidl Plus discount), 2 mozzarella balls (1.42 w/discount), 2x 180g bags of frozen king prawns (4.78 w/discount), and zip freezer bags (1.09). 

For my free vegetable, I got a bag of mixed peppers. They tend to last a while and we use them more frequently than potatoes. 

£19.83 at M & S for bananas (94p), clementines (2.80), YS pack of zucchini (1.04), garlic and ginger, 2 lemons, 2 YS mozzarella ball & pepper pots (43p each!), 2 blocks of butter (4.00), mince beef and onion pie for my lunch (3.00), and a big 550g block of extra mature cheddar (4.25). 

Is anyone else doing the M & S Sparks offer of spend £90 by November 2nd and you’ll get £9 off your next shopping? I’m currently up to about £43 and was thinking of buying a few bottles of wine to stow away from the holidays. Mr. Jings bought coffee and a few other items himself yesterday so those didn’t go on my Sparks account. But, I think we could make it work by Sunday evening with a few strategic purchases. 

£386.37 / £325 spent. £61.37 overspent.  

I’m heading back to Lidl on Wednesday to get some more of that smoked salmon. It was excellent and very inexpensive so I'll get a couple more for the freezer. I bought the “strong and robust” variation and highly recommend it. We also looked at the origin on the back of the packet and turns out it’s only about 20 miles down the road from us in our part of Scotland!

JingsMyBucket

thriftwizard said:

So - that's a huge thank you to @elsiepac for years of sterling service and a welcome to the control room to you, @JingsMyBucket, then?! More power to your elbow!

@thriftwizard funny you should mention my elbow. Ol' righty has started acting up lately just in the past 3 days! 😂

JingsMyBucket

dollypeeps said:

Sorry will have to bow out of this thread for the moment.
mum has broken her (other) hip so we are currently the hospital visits etc.
glad that I have quite a few of my own ‘ready meals ‘ in the freezer.
still tracking my spends by keeping receipts, noting in diary etc 
hopefully I can be a fully functional contributor in the coming months.
i will keep it Bookmarked for a read between appts etc.

@dollypeeps sorry to hear about your mum. Sending some ease your way and fingers crossed your mama's okay. Join us whenever you want or have the mental space for it. 

t14cy_t

total now £90/£100 as nipped into tesco for a few bits. nothing from olio over the weekend, shame.

moginstein

JingsMyBucket said:

Is anyone else doing the M & S Sparks offer of spend £90 by November 2nd and you’ll get £9 off your next shopping? I’m currently up to about £43 and was thinking of buying a few bottles of wine to stow away from the holidays. Mr. Jings bought coffee and a few other items himself yesterday so those didn’t go on my Sparks account. But, I think we could make it work by Sunday evening with a few strategic purchases. 

£386.37 / £325 spent. £61.37 overspent.  

I’m heading back to Lidl on Wednesday to get some more of that smoked salmon. It was excellent and very inexpensive so I'll get a couple more for the freezer. I bought the “strong and robust” variation and highly recommend it. We also looked at the origin on the back of the packet and turns out it’s only about 20 miles down the road from us in our part of Scotland!

@JingsMyBucket,  has Mr Jings used his own sparks card, or just not used one? If the latter then maybe an email to customer services will mean they can credit the value to yours?  It might be worth a go. (Unless I'm misunderstanding and it's the credit card, not the loyalty.)
I've been avoiding some of these types of offers (spend x and get y later) as for me I was buying things I didn’t need, but feeling it was worth it, to get the offer. Then using them early, getting in some logic trap! For me, remembering that they are only really trying to get me to spend more and are not a generous friend helps!
Thanks for the info about the Lidl smoked salmon info (yum), and how lovely to know its so close for you.